Podcast of a recent Supreme Court Case or Justice Nomination


Guided Questions:
  • What are the key components to a political debate?
  • How do bipartisan politics get involved in Supreme Court Case decisions and the Justice Nomination process?

Objectives:
After the lesson, students will be able to:
  • research current trends/decisions of the US Supreme Court
  • analyze and annotate court documents (majority/minority opinions) and expert analysis reports
  • discuss the details and ramifications of recent court cases and justice nominations
  • create a podcast that incorporates students' knowledge and various viewpoints about the situation


Activity 1

Watch/Listen to either CBS's Face the Nation or NPR's Talk of the Nation below to answer this question: What are the major parts of a news/talk radio show?






"Face the Nation" sample which discusses the Supreme Court Justice nomination of Elena Kagan (Also available here)



This NPR podcast also discusses Elena Kagan's confirmation process and includes soundbites from the senate hearing. (Also available here)

Refer back to the opening question: What are the major parts of a news/talk radio show?
Class discussion to answer this question and develop timely ideas about the Supreme Court that would make an interesting talk show.





Activity 2

At conclusion of discussion, you will break into groups to choose your group topic. Then as a group find two articles that identify opposing views on the topic; the majority and minority opinion would make excellent choices (you may consider the Supreme Court homepage or the Supreme Court of the the US blog for your research). Half the group should read and mark up article 1 and half read and mark up article 2. After reading, use the Save the Last Word technique to better comprehend the scope of the topic.

In topic groups, identify the necessary roles for your talk radio podcast discussion. Outline the key points of the discussion and identify which student wil play which roles. Students work on their own or in pairs to work out the details of their commentary using the internet for any extra research.


Activity 3

Step 1
Record
podcast and upload file to student notebook wiki.
Upload your recording/video on to your notebook.


Step 2 (if there is enough time)
Use RubiStar to create a rubric for grading the podcast and also upload to student notebook wiki. How should teachers grade a project like this? How should teachers grade a podcast or video?

Listen to one other podcast and grade it using your rubric.